Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody may have received a host of mixed reviews, but the film has now been praised by the one person best placed to do so - the band's guitarist, Brian May. In fact, not only did May praise it, but he also said star Rami Malek 'deserves an Oscar' for his performance as frontman Freddie Mercury.
In an interview with the Press Association, May said: "He's incredible... without doubt he'll be on the nominations list for an Oscar - and well deserved as well."
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The 71-year-old Queen guitarist commended the Mr Robot star's performance, saying he was 'remarkable'.
"He inhabited Freddie to the point where we even started to think of him as Freddie. Really remarkable," May said.
The film follows the story of the epic band's rise to fame, quarrels, taking in Freddie's relationship with Mary Austin, his AIDs diagnosis and Queen's iconic Live Aid performance in 1985.
"We've lived with this project for nine years and it's incredible to see it doing so well. It came out to shitty reviews, as some of our work has before, but the public has embraced it magnificently," May added.
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"Everybody gave 200 percent, from the actors and technicians to the production team and hair and make-up, everyone. You don't get any lukewarm responses. The guy who plays me should be getting awards all over."
Malek's utterly stunning performance was evident when one fan pointed out the stunning precision with which the star performed the Live Aid performance.
A video was posted on Twitter showing a side-by-side look at the film's version of the performance compared with the real one and it was absolutely freaking people out.
One person on Twitter wrote: "These dudes were literally able to recreate the greatest live show ever performed and made a new generation be able to experience it as if they were actually there. This scene literally gave me fucking CHILLS god damnit."
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Another even pointed out the detail that went into the set, saying: "So awesome. First thing I did after the movie was check out how accurate the Pepsi and beer were on the piano... spot on."
During an interview with news.co.au, Malek spoke about the Live Aid performance, saying he watched the original maybe more than 1,500 times and even had the recording on set with him.
He said: "That's something we tried to get move for move, even just gesture for gesture perfectly. It felt like I had it in my bones and I didn't want to keep going back to it. It felt like sometimes you would lose a little bit of the authenticity if you tried to nail it so perfectly.
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"Things won't exactly always match up, there might be a hint of something that's off, but I think that kept it feeling really alive and in the moment and it was better to sacrifice it that way, but yeah, I was watching it non-stop."
Well, even if it's not doesn't secure an Oscar, it's certainly a round of applause for dedication - you go Rami!
Featured Image Credit: PA/20th Century FoxTopics: Rami Malek, TV and Film, Celebrity, Music, freddie mercury, UK Entertainment, Queen, US Entertainment, Oscars